Lifestyle

After questioning more than 2,300 UK-based homeowners, residents and tradespeople, the Rated People Home Improvement Trends Report 2023 found this year’s most popular home improvement job will be painting and decorating. And why not? It is relatively quick and easy to change the aesthetic inside our homes with a tin of Dulux and some new accessories.

Who doesn’t love a nice glass of wine? A drop of rose in the summer perhaps, or a crisp, dry white? Maybe a full-bodied red is your choice?

Imagine balmy summer evenings spent in the garden of your new home in Newport with a tipple, or cosy nights in front of a roaring log fire supping a glass or two – so many of us enjoy wine in moderation as a way of relaxing and socialising with friends in our homes.

But are you the type who chooses the most expensive bottle because you think that price means quality, or do you go for the cheapest bottle because as long as it doesn’t give you a rotten hangover, you don’t really care?

If you love following an interior design trend, your luck is in. Bloomcore is gaining in popularity just as summer reaches its zenith. This botanically-led aesthetic is already trending on social media, with 2.5 million TikTok views, and rising, under the #bloomcore hashtag. Now style bibles Ideal Home and House Beautiful have started reporting on the design movement.

When it comes to getting a property ready for sale, there is a recommended set of presentation steps to follow: declutter, depersonalise and redecorate. On the latter, it’s advised that vendors step back and look at their walls, ceilings and woodwork to see what condition they’re in.

It’s time to come clean – we have a weakness for design trends. We’ve tried hygge, cottagecore and colour drenching but we have really fallen in love with one current interior fashion and that’s Japandi. The best bit? This design style might just help you sell your home.

From cut flowers in vases and glossy-leaved houseplants to overflowing patio pots and on-trend terrariums, a healthy dash of flora and fauna will add extra appeal when it comes to selling your home. Here are three areas to focus on:-

Often described as the heart of the home, the style, quality and size of a kitchen can be a pivotal deal-breaker among purchasers. In fact, another recent survey completed by more than 1,000 homebuyers found the kitchen was the number one downstairs space buyers wanted to see.

There’s a saying in estate agency that goes ‘kitchens and bathrooms sell homes’ and we tend to agree. We’re often asked by prospective sellers what they should do to make their kitchen ultra-appealing and many ask if it’s possible to add value too. Our answers to the most commonly-asked questions should help inform your kitchen plans.

The soaring cost of gas has made us all think twice about how frequently we turn on our central heating but no one wants to live in a cold home. In a bid to keep energy bills affordable, many homeowners have gone in search of alternative ways to keep warm.

Stripes, spots, checks and chinoiserie, there are a myriad of patterns you can decorate your home with. As with paint colours and styles of furniture, patterns fall in and out of fashion, so we’ve narrowed down the field for you. Here are the interior experts’ top three pattern choices for spring/summer 2023.

The people at Pantone have recently released their colour of the year for 2023 and they plumped for a red called Viva Magenta. It’s a shade Pantone calls ‘brave, fearless, empowering and joyous’.

For 2023, the Dulux Colour of the Year is Wild Wonder – a soft, golden neutral that has both mustard yellow and earthy green undertones. The shade takes its inspiration from nature, reflecting the warm hues of harvested crops, and has the wonderful ability to subtly change colour according to the time of day and source of light.